Rumor: Apple planning to launch $799 MacBook Air in Q3 2012

Apple is rumored to be planning to aggressively combat new "Ultrabook" laptops coming to market by releasing a $799 MacBook Air model in the third quarter of 2012, a price $200 less than the company's current cheapest model.

The claim came on Monday from the sometimes reliable DigiTimes, which cited sources in Apple's upstream supply chain. Apple's plans are reportedly to counter second-generation Ultrabooks, based on Intel's specifications for thin and light notebooks, which PC makers hope to price around $699.

If PC makers are unable to reach the $699 price point with their second-generation Ultrabooks, Apple could have a significant competitive advantage with an aggressive $799 price point for a new MacBook Air, the report claims.

Currently, Apple's cheapest notebook option is the 11.6-inch MacBook Air, which is priced at $999 and comes with a 64-gigabyte solid-state hard drive. Apple also offers a stripped-down 13-inch MacBook Air for education buyers only for $999.

Last month, it was said that Intel hopes to see shipments of as many as 30 million Ultrabooks this year. The company designed the Ultrabook specification after Apple found great success with its new MacBook Air, which features only solid-state storage, instant-on capabilities, and super-thin design thanks to the lack of an optical drive.

Apple is expected to begin revamping its Mac lineup in the coming weeks with Intel's latest-generation Ivy Bridge processors. The product makeover is expected to begin with new MacBook Pros, starting with a 15-inch model, that will also rely on solid-state storage and lose an optical drive, taking design cues from the MacBook Air.

Prior to Monday's report, little has been said of a new MacBook Air lineup, with most rumors focusing on Apple's next MacBook Pros. In fact, one report even suggested that Apple could merge the two product lines, "effectively killing the Pro" and having all of its notebooks like MacBook Airs.

doesn't sound too likely to me, if they sell an $799 Air they will either have to cut corners with parts or quality (which isn't apples way) or sell at a loss, i have a 2010 11" air, damn its awesome, I'm waiting with my wallet ready to see what they are doing with the new run (Ivy bridge). Only way they might be able to do $799 ones maybe, if they keep selling current models as well as new ones.
If you look at the PC ultrabooks that are coming out, none have matched the current air with build yet, & they still cost more.

If apple sell at the current price point & update everything else id be very happy with that, maybe a higher res display for Mountain Lion :D

Besides, Apple has never chased the lower end of the laptop market. Once you start, there's no turning back. Competitors can't build laptops similar to the Air line for much cheaper and Apple has no reason to build cheaper laptops when their pricier products have flourished for the past few years.

The price will not drop. The Apple laptops will step up performance but stick to the price points that have served Apple well.

it is much more likely that, if needed, apple will put 8gb on the thing, bigger SSDs, better camera, USB3, free OS upgrades and bang.. that's about it.

apple can't afford to low the price that much. they are a premium company.

those that are lowering prices are destroying the ultra book category.

the XPS looks like a very nice machine, for example. but folio? the copies?the other monsters (in appearance) that are coming?

those stupid bastards are already leaving good quality materials/components out of the equation so they can lower the price and the same sh*tty PCs will appear again. they just can't do it.

i'm very surprised by DELL.

I have an i7macbook air and i couldn't be happier with it, and my girlfriend just loves it. her 5 year old cheap plastic dell is pretty much dead and she needs a new computer.

obviously for her needs, a nice ultra book is the best bet and the air is, by far, the best between them. i would even argue that this computer is the best consumer laptop in the market right now.

anyway, we both are in the best college of this country, me in engineering, and even that is not enough to prevent the bullshit that makes us use windows.

I had the use Visual Studio (vb) -- windows. that's about it, but it was an inconvenience.

she will have to use SPSS -- Mac.

but chembio office suite and a few other programs? only in windows.

for that reason, and since we don't have apple stores in portugal, and windows should be considered malware for any mac (even if it works very nicely, it's the same of f*cking a dirty, disgusting wh*re on your mercedes s 65 AMG) I asked her to try both the XPS and the air and then decide, based on the good vs bad of each machine. the XPS looks very nice, with an awesome small bezel, nice screen, etc.

she is only used to windows and isn't tech expert at all and let's be honest, windows 7 (f*ck windows 8), for everyday use is a very nice OS, far from the OSX greatness, but very good.

any opinions? any experience with the XPS? as fair as i know, it is selling a lot and usually anyone that does not want the mac route are just buying the XPS. it is very difficult to find one, so i still don't know how the battery is, the trackpad.. those little things that make every mac a much better machine.

I think this is more likely than other posters. Two of the most expensive components in the MacBook air are the SSD and the CPU. We already know that Apple gets a better deal on flash memory than anyone else. If Apple were to include an AMD processor instead of an Intel processor then they might be able to hit this price point.

I think this is more likely than other posters. Two of the most expensive components in the MacBook air are the SSD and the CPU. We already know that Apple gets a better deal on flash memory than anyone else. If Apple were to include an AMD processor instead of an Intel processor then they might be able to hit this price point.

With the lower SSD prices and new intel CPU design for untrabook, Apple should be able to lower there prices on the Mac lines. Would be nice to see Apple gain some significant market share in the PC business. With the volume they sell, Apple could reduce the "Apple design tax" from 2 times the price of the same PC to 1.2 to 1.5x. They will never be able to sell at the same prices because of the superior design but getting close would help gain market shares.

I try to recommend Macs to people I know but they all end up buying Pc's for 1 reason: price.

With the lower SSD prices and new intel CPU design for untrabook, Apple should be able to lower there prices on the Mac lines. Would be nice to see Apple gain some significant market share in the PC business. With the volume they sell, Apple could reduce the "Apple design tax" from 2 times the price of the same PC to 1.2 to 1.5x. They will never be able to sell at the same prices because of the superior design but getting close would help gain market shares.

I try to recommend Macs to people I know but they all end up buying Pc's for 1 reason: price.

You get what you pay for...if you buy a cheap POS PC...thats exactly what you'll get. Not saying Macs are perfect but you do get something for that price. If people didn't think this, they wouldn't be selling as many as they do.